Thursday, September 10, 2009

Arizona's heat has been relentless for the last few months, so to escape the constant incessant sun, we hightailed it to the cloud covered skies of Washington. Some might have been disappointed with a cloudy rain infused weekend, but I felt relief at the 30 degree temperature difference. Sure, it would have been nice to have a little more sunshine enabling us to get more time outdoors, but honestly I loved the drizzles and clouds. And the Trees! I kept looking at Tony and saying “trees!” with the awe of someone who is seeing the ocean for the first time. Everything was so green and fresh. There was that earthy smell of wet dirt and pine needles that hasn’t yet been bottled or turned into a candle fragrance. It was really quite nice.The down side to the weekend was that Ann had gotten sick a day or two before we got there, and remained feeling quite under the weather for the duration of our stay. Yet we managed to have a pretty good weekend and it was probably helpful for her to have us there.

Saturday, Al and Brandon picked us up from the airport and we went to lunch at a seafood place I think is called Wally’s. It’s so nice to get seafood and know that it is pretty fresh. I love a good scallop! Later one of Tony’s childhood friends came for a visit, and Tony enjoyed watching a game of BYU Football. (He is by the way, very happy for football season, while I will be mourning the loss of him for the next few weekends.)

The next day we met my Dad, step-mom Natalya, little sister Amanda, and my not so little-little brother Davey for lunch. Carter thought it was funny that there were two grandpa’s there. I asked who he meant, and he pointed to my dad and my brother. Davey is pretty big, and I can see why he might have thought that, although he does not look old. It was good to talk with them and visit. We seem to be making a tradition of meeting at the Olive Garden behind South Hill mall, as we did the same thing this past Christmas.

Monday morning we played with the boys and then Tony and I met Natalya and Amanda at the Super Mall in Auburn for a little shopping. Nobody really bought much, but it was fun just to spend some time with them, as I rarely get to see them. I don’t remember what we did later that day. Weird, since it was just a few days ago and I’m sure it was fun.

Tuesday Tony and I took the boys for a walk. Well we walked and they rode their bikes. It was so relaxing and peaceful to be in the trees. The boys seemed to enjoy it and would have ridden longer, but I was worried they’d get further on the trail and then not want to ride back. That night, thanks to Tony’s friend, we took the boys to Chuck E Cheese. You can almost never go wrong with little kids and the enticing lights and games of a Chuck E Cheese.

Wednesday was Brandon’s first day of kindergarten. He was pretty happy to be going to school, and didn’t even look back at us as he boarded the bus. It’s kind of funny that they have him take the bus since it is all of a quarter mile to his school from the house, but I guess since it’s right on the way, they just pick up the kids. I took the opportunity to run to Sumner for a little antique shopping. Again it was relaxing to be out in the early fall weather, where things are just warm enough that you don’t need a jacket, but cool enough to wear jeans. I didn’t find anything I had to have and instead just headed home to pack up.Carter really seemed to like having us there. He called me “Mommy” the whole weekend, which I wasn’t sure Brandon liked, but he said it didn’t bother him. I corrected him at first saying I was Auntie or Aunt Stacey, but that just seemed to make him more determined. It was very cute. He even called Tony, "Daddy" on the last day. He especially liked to wait by our bedroom door in the mornings until he knew we were awake and then he would crawl up into the bed. Brandon really liked having someone to play his Wii with, although he was loads better than me. I only liked the Mario cart game. Some of the others were too confusing.

We are now looking forward to having them come for Christmas, which is my favorite time of year. Hopefully it will be just warm enough to swim in the pool as they boys know we have a pool and would be disappointed to know it’s there and not be able to swim in it.